Show INSOFAR INSOFAR as so called fan mail i goes the bulk of the correspondence we have received lately concerns the scoring in boxing matches apparently there is a nationwide tion wide interest in attempting to solve this problem which commissioner eddie eagan of new york hs has tackled so intelligently he is making progress but there are still many tall tah barricades along the road his campaign however has started d many fans to thinking along these hi lines ines for example here is one letter I 1 think worth recording it comes to me from maj richard maibaum of the aj U S army signal corps dear mr rice As chief combat films branch signal corps photographic center one of my duties is supervising r the review ol of several hundred thousand feet of film per month sh shot ot branti grantland and rice by army combat cameramen all over the world much of it under battle conditions the exposed negative unprocessed is sent in from the field accompanied by caption sheets in which the cameramen describe the action they have photographed and I 1 am often amazed at the discrepancy between what actually appears on the film and what the cameramen in all good faith believe will be found there wish I 1 fulfillment 1 I think I 1 found the answer to the puzzler about scoring boxing matches the night a friend of mine mine lost a unanimous unanimous decision after a fight in which I 1 thought he won every round the boy was young clean cut honest stouthearted stout hearted and skillful I 1 had a strong personal interest in his career the match was crucial a big step up if he won on the heels of the shock administered by the decision I 1 indulged in a little introspection it came down to this how could my eyes have so completely deceived me yet deceived me they had and with my own stubborn connivance I 1 saw that boy win because I 1 wanted j him to win it was a pure case of wish fulfillment actually I 1 had fought that fight with him identifying i myself with his bis efforts and seeing it through his eyes you yon caught yourself following only one of the fighters in the ri ring ng and S saying ay now ill follow the other fellow tor for a while when the two men touch off no special pre fight interest it is usually some incident during the bout that suddenly fixes your gour preference upon one of the combatants A display of courage a sudden personality appeal a common prejudice ar aroused aused or overcome no matter how impartial we try to be we do subjectively choose the man we want to emerge victorious and we interpret what we see in that light especially in close bouts the bafflement is caused by the tact fact that the choice we make is is often a subconscious one were not awa aware re that we have installed one of the men as a psychic favorite the one who somehow squares with a lot of preconceived notions so much a part of us we dont even realize we have them 1 I think this also applies to the officials who may be as honest as abe lincoln but who are still subject to the same psychological laws that govern the rest of us maj richard faiburn Mai burn signal corps U S army six year old judges here is a true report of at least a apart part of the picture you and I 1 sitting together see two different actions taking place 1 I have only one solution to offer the major says the age limit of af officials should be around six years after the scrap the kids should be asked who got licked I 1 think usually get the true answer the kids had time to sop up that ego that makes most fight fans see what they want to see because what they want to see must be the way it is this is a completely correct stat statement e we usually see only what we want to see As hughey keogh once wrote the worlds greatest liar is the man who says he be can bet one way and root another this is like saying a man can stand on his head and his feet at the same time A contortionist can perform this teat feat but he be wont br be standing he will be in a knot how about eyesight along this line I 1 have just received a letter from dr M T gilden optometrist and eye specialist in connection with boxing decisions because you speak of the importance of eyesight and I 1 am an optometrist to I 1 suggest that both judges and the referee should have their eyes examined to determine their visual acuity in plain words to determine what their degree of vision is and their visual speed of recognition an extremely important detail seldom mentioned i |